


House Elves and Home Truths

by Sadbhyl



Series: Teach Us Things Worth Knowing [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-05
Updated: 2013-09-05
Packaged: 2017-12-25 17:45:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/955925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sadbhyl/pseuds/Sadbhyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I don’t see the point of the houses, anyway.  They seem like arbitrary divisions that sow unnecessary rivalry and distrust.  Is a Slytherin student ignorant since they aren’t in Ravenclaw? Is a Hufflepuff a coward since they weren’t placed in Gryffindor?  All the students have elements of all the houses in them. "</p>
            </blockquote>





	House Elves and Home Truths

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is so late in coming! RL got ahead of me. But it's a little longer to make up for it.
> 
> Sometimes I can't tell which I'm reflecting more of with these, the Sherlock world or the Harry Potter one. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

“When I suggested tea, I thought the teachers’ lounge—”

Sherlock ignored John as he swept into his own rooms, the Defense teacher not far behind. “Hudson!” he called without even looking around.

“No need to shout, Sherlock,” the familiar high voice spoke near his elbow in sweet irritation. “Hudson is right here.”

“Put these away, would you?” He held out the box of rare potion ingredients he had rescued from storage. “And Professor Watson and I could use some tea.”

She glared at him benevolently. “Hudson is not your house-elf, Sherlock,” she insisted as she took the box.

“And some of those butter biscuits we had yesterday if there are any left.”

“Not your house-elf!” her voice singsonged back as she went to put the samples with Sherlock’s other ingredients.

“You have a house-elf,” John observed unnecessarily.

“Her last master was a Death-eater that I helped reveal before the war. When he killed himself rather than be sent to Azkaban, he had no other heirs in the magical world, and she had no interest in being free. Instead she attached herself to me.”

“So when she says she’s not your house-elf…”

“Literally true. She’s not obliged to obey me, and she’s welcome to leave whenever she likes.”

“And yet here she is.”

“So it would seem.”

A moment later, the tea tray staggered in on long, spindly legs. “Tea, Sherlock.” Hudson slid the tray onto the table in front of the fire and turned back to him. “Make sure you eat some of the sandwiches Hudson put out. Too skinny you is, young man.”

“Hudson, this is Professor John Watson. John, this is Hudson, who, as you have heard, is not my house-elf.”

He was pleased when John bent down to offer the small being his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hudson.”

She blushed but curled her spindly fingers around his. “Charmed, Hudson is sure, Professor John.”

“If you ever got bored, I’m sure John could use some assistance with his rooms, Hudson.”

John looked appalled. “That’s not necessary. The school’s elves—”

She cut him off with a dismissive titch. “School elves, indeed. School elves takes care of the school, don’t know how to serve a master. Hudson will go see what an appalling job they have done in Professor John’s quarters. School elves.” She shook her head and vanished with a pop.

“That wasn’t necessary.”

“If it keeps her from clearing away my latest experiments, then it was definitely necessary.” Sherlock filled two cups, added sugar to both and milk to his. “Besides, you need to look your best for your first day of teaching.”

“I doubt a spruced up robe is going to change how the students think about me.”

“You were an Auror. You know to take any advantage available when facing an adversary.”

John eased himself into one of the chair. “You consider the students here adversaries?”

“You don’t?” Sherlock offered the tea.

When John took the cup and saucer from him, Sherlock sat down in his chair. “So what happened in an empty common room that left you so disconcerted?”

John studied his tea as though trying to read the drowning leaves. “It’s nothing. Just coming to grips with a few realities.”

“Told to you by a painting.”

He looked up at that, glowering.

“They’re just daubs of paint, John, not the man himself.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know.”

“You think you don’t belong as head of house.”

“That house, yeah.”

“Do you think you’ll be cruel to the students?”

“Of course not!”

“Judgmental? Careless?”

Flush rose up John’s neck. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then why wouldn’t you be an appropriate head?”

“Because I’m not a bloody Slytherin, that’s why!”

Sherlock relented. “No. No, you’re not. But does it really matter?” John seemed to struggle with the question. “The headmistress doesn’t seem to think so.”

“Yes, well—“

“I don’t see the point of the houses, anyway. They seem like arbitrary divisions that sow unnecessary rivalry and distrust. Is a Slytherin student ignorant since they aren’t in Ravenclaw? Is a Hufflepuff a coward since they weren’t placed in Gryffindor? All the students have elements of all the houses in them. Take Potter, for example.” He set his cup aside and leaned forward. “A bastion of Gryffindor House, and yet he showed extreme loyalty to his headmaster, even walking into death for the man despite Dumbledore already being dead. To have been able to avoid the Death Eaters for so long, he had to have been resourceful and cunning, and to have been able to defeat the protections Voldemort must have had guarding him, Potter must have been clever. Any house would have welcomed him, and yet because he was assigned to Gryffindor, all of the credit is given to his house rather than to the man himself.” He sat back in the chair again and reached for his tea. “It seems an unproductive and arbitrary practice.”

“It’s not about that,” John insisted, distracted now from his own distress. “When the students come here, they’re, not scared really, but unsure. They’ve left everything they know behind. Friends, family, places. They don’t know who to turn to or where to call home. When you’re assigned to a house, you’re given a new family. A place to belong, even if you don’t fit in anywhere else. People who have to accept you, even if you’re awkward. Who will protect you if need be. It helps them make the transition to school.”

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just the Muggles do something similar with their soldiers. They divide them up into smaller units, break down their personalities and then build them back up in the ideals of their unit. The only difference being these children don’t need to be broken down first. They’re already malleable.”

“We don’t do that.”

“No? Then why shouldn’t you be leading Slytherin House?”

“Why the hell aren’t you?”

That question surprised him. He grinned. “Can you really see me given the responsibility for that many impressionable young minds? Besides, dull.”

John studied him. “Why are you here at all? In a school full of dull children?”

“Children aren’t dull. Rules are dull. Children are fascinating, with everything they know, everything they don’t know, all that potential and chaos. You never know what they’re going to do next.”

John looked shocked for the space of two breaths before he laughed, an almost womanly giggle. “Well, that explains why you aren’t Head. McGonagall would have to be insane to give you the job.”

“But she isn’t, so she gave it to you.”

John stopped.

“It’s all in your head, John. You’ll be fine.” He picked up the plate off the tea tray and offered it to him. “Have a biscuit. Hudson makes them special. Says the school elves can’t do it right.”

“She has a lot of opinions for a house elf.” He reached for the biscuit nonetheless.

“Well, she is _my_ house elf.”

“No, she isn’t.” He was smiling again.

“No, she’s not, is she?”

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter: Harry Potter returns to Hogwarts...


End file.
